Prep football: The top two large-schools teams in 2006 tangle in 2007

Aug. 31, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - While the names on the jerseys will be the same for today's rematch of last year's state championship football game between Colony and South Anchorage, most of those in the programs won't.

A total of 50 seniors - 28 from South, 22 from Colony - have moved on, meaning this year's nonconference grudge match will be played out largely between players who have never met in a varsity game. That being said, there's no getting around the fact that Colony players will be looking for a little payback for last year's 26-16 title game defeat.

&#8220Yeah, I kind of am,” Colony senior running back/defensive back Jaron Murphy said following Thursday's practice. &#8220This is the biggest game so far this year.”

Along with mostly different players, this year's game also will feature two teams heading in opposite directions. Colony is 3-0 and ranked fourth among large-schools teams in the state. South, on the other hand, is just 1-2 and already finds itself on the outside of the developing playoff picture.

But according to Colony coach Jamie Mayo, that doesn't mean South doesn't have a quality football team.

&#8220This is going to be a big test for us,” Mayo said.

Mayo said South has a strong defense, and he believes the game will be an intense, smash-mouth kind of affair.

&#8220I expect it to be a pretty ugly, hard-hitting game,” he said. &#8220What I mean by that is if people aren't ready to hit and be hit, they're going to have some problems.”

Colony's success so far this season has been built around a strong running game, timely passing and an opportunistic defense. Murphy is leading all Mat-Su runners with 424 yards on 59 carries, including six touchdowns, while quarterback Brad Truax has thrown for 273 yards and six scores.

Last week against West Valley, the Knights forced six turnovers, including two interceptions by safety Tim Jaronik.

The Wolverines are a running team, primarily picking up yards on counter plays and sweeps to the outside, and typically can only be expected to throw the ball a dozen times or so. The Wolverines utilize several running backs, led by Spencer Agustin, who also handles the kicking duties.

Mayo said he doesn't expect many surprises.

&#8220As far as our offense and defense, both of us know each other fairly well,” he said.

Colony led last year's championship game before two fourth quarter South touchdowns ended the Knights' bid for their first time in program history. Mayo said his team struggled to stay focused in that game, and said he believes the key to tonight's game will be keeping up a high level of intensity from start to finish.

&#8220It's going to come down to execution,” he said.

The Knights are coming off what Mayo said was their best week of practice so far this season, and he said he doesn't think the squad's focus will be an issue this time around.

&#8220I think the kids are pretty fired up,” he said.

Tonight's showdown is the start of a critical stretch of games for the Knights. After South, Colony will play three tough Railbelt Conference games, including cross-Valley rivals Palmer and Wasilla as well as a trip to second-ranked Juneau.

Mayo said the South game will be a good way to get his team ready to begin making a playoff run.

&#8220It's kind of a springboard to the toughest part of our season,” he said.

Mayo said he's tried to downplay the payback angle of tonight's game, preferring to have his team focus mainly on execution. As with other big games, emotion can sometimes lead to silly penalties, but Jaron Murphy said he believes the Knights won't have that problem against the Wolverines.

&#8220I'm pretty sure Mayo's got that under control,” he said.

Murphy said he also believes this year's contest will differ from last year's in one crucial way.

&#8220We expect to play for all four quarters this time.”

North Pole at Wasilla

A pair of teams on opposite ends of the Railbelt Conference standings meet tonight at Veterans Memorial Field, when Wasilla (3-0, 1-0) hosts North Pole (0-2, 0-3) at 7 p.m.

The Warriors are off to their best start since 1999, with three straight wins to start the season. But North Pole is still looking for that elusive first win after seeing a trio of tough opponents - Soldotna (the defending small-schools state champion), Colony (the runner-up at the large-schools level last year) and Juneau-Douglas (a squad that has advanced to the state semifinals for four consecutive seasons).

Last week, the Warriors posted their second nonconference win of the season, a 38-0 pounding of Skyview at WHS.

The Warriors held a less than comfortable 10-0 lead over the No. 3 team of the small-schools class at halftime, but Wasilla padded the score with 28 second-half points.

Senior Joe Barkley was the fuel for the Wasilla engine, posting touchdown runs of four and nine yards in the third quarter. The first-year football player sparked the team with a 68-yard punt return for a score midway through the first quarter.

Senior Patrick Campbell and sophomore Chris Bydlon also scored for the Warriors, and Derek Bosch showed his monster leg with a 40-yard field goal in the second quarter.

North Pole followed a 20-7 loss to Colony in week two, by falling 30-13 to Juneau-Douglas last week.

On offense, the Patriots have shown the ability to both throw and run the ball.

Senior running back Todd McCormick powers the North Pole running game. He has 386 yards in three games.

And the North Pole air attack posted a pair of big plays in the loss to the Bears. Dane Ebanez and Andy Musgrove each netted touchdown catches of 70 or more yards.

But North Pole defense has been the Achilles' heel, allowing 112 points on the other side of the ball.

Palmer at Juneau-Douglas

Palmer (1-2, 1-0) makes the trip to the capitol city to face Juneau-Douglas (3-0, 2-0) at 8 p.m. tonight.

These two squads split in a pair of meetings last season. The Moose scored a 26-6 win over the Crimson Bears during the regular season. But Juneau eliminated Palmer from the postseason with a 19-14 first-round win over the Moose in October.

The Moose snapped a two-game losing streak with a 48-14 win over Lathrop at Machetanz Field last week.

Palmer, a squad that has run the triple option out of the shotgun set for the last several seasons, opted for the ‘I' formation against the Malemutes.

&#8220We decided we'd be better doing things a little more conservatively,” Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said after the win.

Even though the Moose showed a different look at the line of scrimmage, results proved to be similar. The Moose scored six times on the ground, averaged nearly eight yards per carry and produced a season-high for total rushing yards.

&#8220A lot of the things that we are doing, are things that we do, just scaled down,” Christiansen said.

Senior Devin Konkler posted 199 of Palmer's 397 rushing yards. Konkler scored on runs of six and 67 yards. And that's all after returning the opening kickoff 85 yards for a score.

Juneau chewed up 220 yards on the ground in its 23-point win over North Pole.

Silver Maake led the squad with 124 yards on 24 carries, and Tuavao Maake added 77 yards and two sores.

The Crimson Bear defense recorded a safety in the first quarter and forced three North Pole fumbles.

Juneau also has blowout wins over Lathrop and Kodiak this season.

Barrow at Houston

After having an unplanned week off, the Houston Hawks have the opportunity to get back onto the football field when they host Barrow at HHS at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Houston (1-2, 1-1) was to play Delta last week, but the Huskies were forced to forfeit because they had too few players to field a team.

So rather than play Delta, a squad the Hawks were 2-0 against last year, Houston has had two weeks to focus on the Whalers - a team that has found itself in the national spotlight.

Barrow (1-1, 1-0) has received national attention since becoming the first school above the Arctic Circle to field a high school football team. The attention reached a climax two weeks ago when the Whalers played for the first time on its blue artificial turf field, which was paid for with donations gathered by a Jacksonville, Fla., woman.

But rather than playing on the turf, the Hawks and Whalers will be on the grass of the Houston High School Field. And it will mark the home debut for the Hawks.

Leading the Hawks this season is junior quarterback Jordan Webb. In two games, Webb is 40-of-74 for 418 yards. He also has two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Junior Bryan Mason has been Webb's favorite target, with 14 catches for 217 yards and a touchdown.

Webb and Mason are the top players in the Valley in each statistical category.

Ryan Contreras has eight catches, and Israel Morales has seven.